Smart industries (Industry 4.0)

‘E pluribus Unum’ is Latin for ‘Out of many, One’. These writings are engraved on the United States of America penny to depict the unity of people from diverse cultures and different backgrounds who came together to form a great nation. This is a viable illustration of Smart industries . Smart manufacturing is an amalgamation of various interconnected emerging technologies which synthesize the somatic, digital and biological aspects of a full production process. The aim of this article is to demystify Smart industries and suggest ways to effectively ride the wave created by it. This will be tackled through carefully dissecting:

• the present restlessness – the need for smart industries;
• the promised results – what smart industries solves and therefore;
• the proper response we ought to have – practical examples and skills we can earn.

The present restlessness

Why should you even care that there exists something called Smart industries or ‘Industry 4.0’? Why shouldn’t you be left behind in investing in Smart industries? Should there be any reason for your industry or company or startup to align itself with this golden opportunity? I would like to suggest five reasons:

• stiff competition;
• exponentially growing workforce;
• dwindling resources with the threat of climate change;
• growing operational costs; and
• uncertainties of the future.

Right from the first industrial revolution and now we are experiencing the fourth one, manufacturing firms over the years have had to adapt to the changing times. Without plugin in into the emerging technologies, many firms have gone extinct. Like Henry Ford’s idea of mass production revolutionized the manufacturing industry by reducing the time it takes to build a car by 800 percent (from 12 hours to 90 minutes). Smart manufacturing is going to take manufacturing to the next level, maybe we can build a car within 10 minutes.

Competition isn’t even a worthy name to give what drives firms out of business, the name is market war. This, coupled with rising costs of running the industries - without finding a niche to break out as a firm - there’s no hope for a profitable future. The pressure that comes from the ever increasing operational costs will eventually adversely affect the quality of products and therefore reliability of the firm. The world population on the other hand isn’t plummeting and with continuous increase in population comes the pressure to improve productivity and effectively deliver to all the customers. With more people on the earth, resources are on the decline and there is significant pressure to manufacturers from mother nature to prevent further environmental degradation. Smart industries introduces the notion of a ‘connected worker’, ‘connected devices’ and connected machines in an effort to greatly reduce operational and maintenance costs with the promise of raising much revenue. The next portion aims to show that manufacturers who fully evolve to the digital side will gain a considerable competitive advantage.

The promised results

From the definition of Smart industries - an amalgamation of a variety of technology driven solutions that aim to merge the physical and virtual world – it is paramount to demystify the following emerging and important technologies. This first portion aims to explain the general idea behind some of these technologies while the subsequent part will show how these technologies in the scope of smart industries offer to deliver some profitable results.

Big data

Data is the new oil. Together with scarcity of water, the race to be ahead in the information world may cause The Third World War. For a manufacturing plant data may include; customer behavior data, machine and devices run time and maintenance schedules, internal industry factors and external aspects of a plants environment e.g. humidity, temperature, oxygen levels and much more. Giving both the plant workers and directors access to copious amounts of this data gives them power. Big Data gives a plant’s employees the power to:

• Correctly know the status of the plant’s consumption, product produce, and waste generation – basically be in the know of what is happening at any time;
• Decipher and point out the causes of change – rise or drop – in the quality of produce; and
• Make well thought of and sound resolutions or profit of the industry.

Big Data is what will drive Smart industries by offering easily accessible exponential information, which is stored safely in the cloud and in the onset of 5G data, the speed of accessibility is tremendously fast.

Industrial Internet of Things (“IIOT”)

IIOT extends the use of Internet of Things – which makes the use of sensors to connect devices to the internet - to industry applications. It applies the use of IoT by working hand in hand with Big Data, Machine to Machine (“M2M”) communication, smart sensors, advanced robotics, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”). IIOT helps with the dynamics of connecting physical devices and machines to the internet and is what makes automation of robots, machines and transport means possible besides giving a full view of the whole production process – from sourcing resources to customer feedback.

Blockchain

This distributed ledger technology not only has its applications in the business industry but can also be very effective in the industrial world. Working together with Big Data, blockchain will prove to be a low cost and effective solution to digitally collaborate in the industry when solving problems. Blockchain will also help with transparency and access to openly stored data.

Advanced robotics

They say that robots are taking over the world. They’re doing this by taking ten industrial sectors by storm first. With the onset of logistical robots, collaborative robots and industrial robots, the automation revolution is on the way. Machine-to-machine communication and human-to-machine communication. M2M basically is an acronym for Machine to Machine which refers to the communication between two separate machines without any human interaction.
Through serial, power line or wireless connections the machines set up or M2M can be able to keep tabs on each other and therefore have an unmanned response to the surrounding. Any machine with sensors can be programed to be able to interact with another machine with sensors. The simplest example could be sensors in any important element in a machine equipment communicating with the engineer’s cell phone informing him of any alterations in sensitive parameters and when they need maintenance checks. To an even more sophisticated system of machines connected both with each other and the internet, machine parts required for replacement could be ordered automatically in line with the plant’s budget without the need of a person mediating.

H2M is also an acronym for Human to Machine which is the merger between the biological and the physical components of a plant. H2M is majorly utilized in the health sector where various delicate parts of the human body can be monitored remotely through smart phones and other gadgets. A chip could be implanted in a patient’s heart and any abnormal palpitations can be detected and the doctor is alerted promptly through his cell phone. However H2M can be very invaluable in the health and safety of workers in a plant.

Through chips and other sensors carefully attached to workers in extreme conditions in industries and plants, their bodily response to these conditions can be observed in real time and the necessary precautions and medical approach can be taken. This is way better than waiting to get workers call in sick at a later time. This is specifically helpful in areas that are exposed to extreme fluctuation in temperatures, radioactive emissions and possibly other harmful conditions. And through these very innovative technologies the manufacturing industry gets the following results that go a long way in helping specific industries survive the future.

Smart industries energy management

A high percentage of a industry’s expenditure goes to the powering of the plant. Therefore, effective energy use is paramount in saving costs, increasing productivity and conserving the environment. Smart industries through M2M, Big Data offers the way out by automatic gathering of real time information on energy consumption in the various machines in the plant. This data if presented in screens and gadgets making it easily accessible to the relevant stakeholders will be very helpful in decision making on matters energy management.

Through sophisticated data analysis from real time information gathered, the plant management or even the plant system itself can be able to predict creative energy saving tips. This compared to the orthodox waiting for research from experts proves to be very productive. The data can be able to advise also on the operating conditions that will bear maximum efficiencies in energy use. Through this there will not only be cost savings but also energy savings that could be reused in other parts of the plant.

Sensors can be placed at various machine components to determine and decipher – and with the help of Artificial Intelligence even correct – whenever there are any leakages and shorts that would lead to energy wastage.

A perfect example of this is Salonit Anhovo cement industry in Slovenia which is a leading cement industry in innovation and digital manufacturing. They have especially focused on energy management to comply with EU energy standards. The plant has a smart energy management system which collects data and analyzes it, and this has proven to be very effective.

Product quality management and improvement

The quality of a product is directly related to the amount of effort put in in the manufacture of the product. This effort could be measured in terms of machine effectiveness, employee productivity and thoroughness of work done. Smart industries make use of Big Data, advanced robotics, collaborative Robots, Virtual Reality and AI to ensure that the quality of products exceeds the expectations of the intended customers.

Through collection and safe storage of product real time data, (customer feedback and recommendations, critics and reviews, etc.) and this data being made easily available to the relevant stakeholders in a plant, decisions on improvement can be easily reached without guessing. This is will make the manufacturers of a product be in the constant know of the direct impact their product is making in the market. If a product doesn’t do well, the presence of this data gives a comfortable to begin investigating from.

Human beings do get bored from performing a myriad of repetitive tasks in a plant. This may in long term affect both the motivation of the employee and the quality of the product. Automated robots on the other hand do not get tired of performing tasks. With precision and accuracy, the advanced robots will ensure the level of quality needed by the intended customer is met. This also enables the workers formerly performing tis task to move to more engaging and exciting tasks thus leading to their up skilling. Being able to change the codes of the automated robots also proves them to be flexible and speedily adapt to any changes in a plant. With human workers it would require some good amount of time for training incurring more costs. There are some tasks in the industry that may require both the input of a machine and a human hand in their execution, so as to obtain the highest productivity. This is where “Cobots” are instrumental. Cobots is the short form of collaborative robots which are part of the specializations of Advanced Robotics. These collaborative robots work hand in hand with human beings in performing tasks that require both human and robotic input. ) An example is a task that is both demanding strength wise and precision wise – like the operation of a truck engine. This type of precision may not be coded into the machine so a skilled human hand is required and therefore the worker’s skill is augmented by the robot. The cobots will watch and scrutinize the human skillfully perform the task, then they would learn it and with the strength required they would perform the task with the required precision. This greatly improves the quality of a product.

Virtual reality comes in during the workers skill training. A skillful workforce produces quality products. A virtual representation of the plant could be built where the workers of the plant could be trained through their respective roles. This also provides grounds for practicing some necessary skills required in the plant. Wearable AI can also be used to give feedback on the level of accuracy and performance of the workers in various tasks performed in the training process.

Maintenance, fault prediction and mitigation steps

Presence of many big and minute parts in a manufacturing plant causes maintenance to be quite an expensive process, especially if it is done routinely, which is a given in industries. Presently much of the work done before, during and after maintenance is in paper form and this leads to a lot of paper waste, costs incurred and possibility of loss of documented information. The process starts from pinpointing the problem to prioritization of the specific work area to calling in of the required necessities to coming up with a maintenance schedule and closing off the work area to getting the necessary permissions to the maintenance job done and finally documentation of the same. This whole process done manually poses these grim problems:

• Paperwork documentation could easily get lost and is difficult to share this knowledge to a large group of stakeholders;
• Scheduling the maintenance work and manual diagnosis takes too long sometimes leading to unplanned downtime; and
• There are a lot of intricacies in tracking the records and at the same time coordinating the workers who all have different schedules.

Smart industries, through “digital collaboration” with the help of Industrial Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data enables machines to be able to remotely perform these tasks. The major machines and devices that need frequent maintenance are fitted with sensors that gather all the necessary information required for maintenance. With IIOT the machines can be able to collect data from the internet of optimum conditions and frequency of servicing and store this data.

Through M2M, the machines can be able to communicate with maintenance engineers on the most effective maintenance schedules and methods. With this information it is very easy for the stakeholders of a plant to prioritize and specify the scope of work. With the data stored and easily accessible, the whole. Work process can be easily tracked. This whole process can be monitored remotely through having the knowledge shared in the cloud with any other experts required. This whole process can then be captured and categorized and therefore be pulled up easily or future use.

This saves a lot of employee time, avails the opportunity of getting information from even more specialists, reduces machine downtime and greatly reduces maintenance costs.

Workers’ health and safety

With all the machines, dangerous devices and sometimes extreme conditions, the manufacturing plants pose a great risk to human lives. Without the necessary safety precautions, the plant is not allowed to legally run, and the workers won’t be able to do their best therefore affecting productivity.

In very dangerous zones, virtual inspections could be implemented. This can only work if a virtual plan o the whole plant is already set up and running. With their 3D glasses technicians and engineers can have a tour inside and outside of machine components and with already existing simulation programs , they could expertly and safely diagnose and discuss a way out. The digital twin of the whole plant is now a better working version of virtual reality. With this, physical visits will no longer take long hours of travel and neither pose a grave danger to experts, especially those sourced out of the company. The exact replica of the machines or even the whole plant can be studies remotely while it correctly records and simulates all the processes happening in the plant. This could also help in preventing accidents as any anomalies in the machines could be noted and predicted much earlier.

Virtual reality and digital twinning are related. Virtual reality being the 3D representation of the whole plant that is computer generated and can be used or studying the processes that take place in the plant. While the digital twin is the virtual replica of the whole plant which operates in the same way as the real plant allowing for collection and analysis of various data. These two will help in protecting the very sensitive and delicate machine components that may require a specialized atmospheric condition. With human visits, these conditions are drastically altered posing a danger to the production quality and machine life of the industry. This is especially true for surroundings that require particle free conditions hence will require a lot of environment cleaning and wear or protection gear by the visitors.

Through advanced robotics and collaborative robots, machines take over the very dangerous tasks in the plant. This ensures the safety of the workers and enables them transition to more brainy and exciting tasks in the industry. By this the management takes care of both their safety and upskilling. Sensors planted in various danger zones of the plant can be able to alerts industry workers or anyone around of any leakages and any dangerous anomalies of sharp machine parts. Through also an IIOT waste managed inventory with the data of production, recycling and disposal of waste stored and studied, waste reduction is a great possibility. This will improve the health of the earth surrounding the industry.

Conclusion – the proper response

The 4th Industrial Revolution is predicted to oust the current industry workforce and thereby increasing unemployment. According to the International Labor Organization, over 170 million people around the world were jobless in 2018 while 20% - 40% of already existing workforce is at the risk of being automated soon.

However, the gleam hope is that because of the opportunities discussed above there will be a wide skill gap that will require to be filled in each emerging technology. World Economic Forum as researched and proven that a industry that will invest in Smart industries will also invest in the skills of the present workers and the future workers of the plant.

Therefore, upskilling is the way out for manufacturing companies, present industry workers and also students in universities. With digital collaboration, you could be an AI specialist in Kakuma camp in Kenya but solve plant problems that exist in a car manufacturing plant Germany.

The proper response therefore is to invest our time and resources in the development of digital skills in this age. Plant owners, technical manufacturing workforce and current students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (“STEM”) will have to work and in and in order or the whole world to benefit in this Smart industry wave. This can be done through:

• Manufacturing plants having their own emerging technology academies where they teach and allow for practice opportunity or the necessary skills required or a digital migration;
• The manufacturing plants having a symbiotic relationship established between themselves and schools. This is so that they may start finding the right people for their digital jobs; and
• the curriculum that is taught in schools, universities should include real relevant and ongoing work in industries.